The Snow Angel and the Ruin King
by A Stereotypical Gamer
Summary: A man from a long lost kingdom arrives in the ruins of Beacon searching for his missing "snow angel", while Weiss desperately tries to prevent Blake from running before her father arrives to whisk her away.
1. New Purpose

_**RWBY**_

 _ **The Snow Angel and the Ruin King**_

By A Stereotypical Gamer

 **Author's Note** : This story takes place immediately following the Battle of Beacon and interspersed with the time skip.

 **Chapter One: New Purpose**

An explosion of silver light could be seen for miles. That might've been reason enough to draw a curious spectator.

An army of Grimm descended on a ruined citadel and freely walked among fire and crumbling stone. That might've been reason enough to flee in the opposite direction.

But for him, there was nowhere else worth going. His home was sand swept wreckage, his people naught but memory. He'd known nothing but empty despair for each day he'd wandered and each step he'd taken since that day.

Yet, in his travels, he'd briefly glimpsed something that renewed his drive; something that broke torporous, pointless wandering and had given him a destination to reach.

To the Northwest of his home, the citizens of Vacuo had left in droves for the East. He'd been wandering the desert wastes and the departure of their ships had broken the usual monotony. He'd not intended to follow them, but through some contrivance, some quirk of fate, following in their wake had led him to new purpose.

In his travels he found the ruins of a settlement, and acquired a Scroll, a piece of technology that far outpaced what his kingdom had known. Yet it was accessible enough, as gradually he was able to activate the device, and allowed it to continue its pre-programmed routine, showing some program, some recording of a gathering of cultures in the kingdom of Vale, far to the East. Exactly where the citizens of Vacuo were heading, and close to his own heading.

Even then, even with that curiosity, he'd yet to gain his new purpose. He only continued his eternal walk, the broken settlements –testaments to humanity's hubris and failure- at his back, and open wilderness out in front of him… and a curious tie to a modern and unfamiliar world in the hunk of metal and wire.

He did not need to rest. Yet there were moments when he was idle, and on one such occasion, fate interceded.

What had started as a celebration of cultural exchange had transformed into a tournament, as representatives of various kingdoms began to clash. It reminded him of the glorious past, when he'd observed similar fights for glory and national pride, in the time before his own kingdom fell. That had broken the monotony… but just as easily reminded him of all that had been lost, and what scraps were left to him.

And then, in one battle, late in the rankings of the tournament, he dropped the Scroll to the dirt in shock… and then picked it up again and hungrily observed it, when he felt emotions he'd not known in a lifetime.

Hope. And love.

His love, alive and well, fighting with spirit and vigor few could boast. The sole reason he endured, the one he'd thought lost forever was clearly alive and well.

It was impossible. Yet it was right in front of him.

He had to know. He had to behold her with his own eyes and not feel doubt. It was the only positive emotion he'd known… it was so powerful it'd nearly thrown him off balance, and he had to fight to retain the careful control that was all that had allowed him to remain. But even though it'd be his undoing, even though it would destabilize him further, he had to know. He had to see her. He had to hold her. He had to speak her name.

He saw no more of her on the Scroll after her battle. He needed to know her fate after the uncertain result. He had to know his isolation and struggle had not left him mad and desperate… or at least, not so mad and desperate he believed the dead could come back to life and renew their vow of love.

At some point the device lost the signal and the Scroll was silent. He'd assumed the device was simply damaged and had broken at last, or its supply of energy was not as indefinite as it appeared and simply deactivated. But he knew his destination, and now driven, he ran to it, traveling through the night and among the beasts born of shadow, undeterred. Though his love had broken his careful control, the weight of his despair reasserted itself and the pain of his loss brought him back into balance. And it was fortunate it did, or perhaps he'd have arrived too late. Perhaps what was to happen would be averted, and his fate would never have changed.

When he entered Beacon, the city was all but abandoned, alive only in swarms of Grimm and still-raging fires. As he walked in he began his search, searching each of the dead, examining every scrap of debris, every legible piece of information. He carried in himself and in his wards a few odds and ends- bits of clothing, written words, more of the advanced Scrolls- and searched.

He'd been briefly distracted by seeing the immobilized form of an enormous great dragon, itself drawing Grimm to it… but because it was their kin, not because it had found prey.

Yet there was still prey, running through back alleys, fighting or fleeing as the situation dictated. He hoped one would be his love, but regardless, he would know. The Grimm would indefinitely replicate and he would risk his composure to remove their impediments. They were expendable, and he'd demonstrate his power in the hopes of coercing this survivor into giving him information.

When at last he found the first survivor, he was again taken aback. A girl, not even a meter and a half, dispatched the Grimm with furor. She was exhausted, but fought on regardless. He had intended to intervene, but there was no need. The destruction of Grimm around him threw off his balance, but he was determined now to learn, and so kept the darkness in thrall. If his hopes were dashed, there'd be no shortage of despair for the shadows to feed on. The promise of a meal would keep them at bay.

The surviving Ursa and Beowolves began to withdraw from the girl, drawn to him, joining the others already at his side. She turned her attention to him and leveled her weapon, an closed umbrella with an extended blade. She was panting, her eyes were racing from side to side to behold the Grimm at his back, yet she would not retreat.

He closed his eyes to perceive her better. What had once been a small girl of pink, white, and black became the Dust that had birthed her, contorted by her sorrow. She too had felt loss, her thoughts on another… a crimson ember, a lick of flame against infinite darkness.

When he opened his eyes he reached into the darkness at his side, into the hollow body of one of the Griffons that followed him.

"I feel your despair," he spoke in low rumble, as he rummaged within his minion. "I know you're hoping to find what you have lost."

Her expression turned from cold fury to confusion. Perhaps she'd not expected him to speak; perhaps she'd thought him another shape of the shadow like the Grimm drawn to his side. She at least seemed willing to wait to see what he'd do before she resumed her attack.

From within the Griffon he produced it, a tattered black bowler hat, marred by the single speck of crimson Dust. He concentrated, and the Griffon stepped back, so he could place the hat before her, to show it clearly.

At first she remained confused, but gradually she recognized it, with its black felt and its red sash. Her emotions distorted again, as she fell into deep, crushing despair… despair that drew the Grimm's attention, and threatened to disrupt his subtle control over them.

He thought she'd only fought for survival, to escape somewhere and keep the shadows out. Instead she'd searched for someone… she'd been driven by powerful emotion, just as he had. He had to concentrate, to reassert his dominance over the Grimm. He was far too intrigued by this girl to risk her being consumed by the dark as so many others had.

"You lost someone," he said, trying to reassure her, though nothing would make it better. Whoever this man had worn this helm, and whatever he'd been to her, the finality of his loss was too recent for any words to mend the wound. "The Grimm are drawn to you because of your despair. If you can't control it, they will… eventually attack."

He hoped that fear of death or pragmatic will to live would free the girl from her despair. Slowly, it did alleviate, as she buried it, intentionally bottling her emotions, much like he had in the beginning, before he'd made his pact with the shadow.

"I do not know you," he continued, "but I must trouble you for answers."

He tossed to her one of the discarded Scrolls, and waited a moment before pressing. "I have helped you find what you have lost. I hope you can return the courtesy."

Perhaps she was too tired to speak. Perhaps the pain of her loss held her tongue. Yet she complied, and activated it for him, holding it up to show him its screen.

"The tournament," he requested. "The combatants."

Though initially perplexed and still hurt from her loss, she did comply and searched, easily manipulating the unfamiliar technology. He waited until she presented him a depiction of every participant, including one who looked distinctly like the girl herself… though with darker hair and eyes.

He stepped towards her, the stone floor cracking with the weight of each step. He scanned each picture until he saw it… and his stony expression faltered, his voice broke. "Her."

The girl turned the screen to herself and looked. Her expression hardened. He felt a new outpouring of emotion: bitter, personal hatred. That too drew the Grimm to her, and he had to suppress his emotions, to regain control of the horde before they attacked the girl.

"Do you know her?" he asked.

The girl only nodded, still quaking with quiet rage.

Despite the animosity, he couldn't believe his luck. It had to be fate.

"Help me find her," he pleaded. "I beg you, bring me to her."

Her expression changed again. She buried away her hate, and wondered. She wanted to know who he was, and more importantly, what could be gained by helping him. Her hatred of his love would clash with his goals, so if she agreed to his request they would eventually –inevitably- come to blows.

"I am a stranger to you, let me amend that," he suggested, trying to focus her emotions to his cause. "I am a nobleman without a seat, a keeper of a forgotten history. I am…"

What would he tell her? A name no one would know? A family title intentionally gone unused? The name of a kingdom that would turn her against him?

"… the Ruin King."

It wasn't entirely accurate. He wore his father's rusted crown, but he hadn't ever exercised his authority. It was hard to rule when your only subjects were ghosts and echoes and your only kingdom sand and rubble.

The pink, white, and brown girl said nothing. Her fury was focused now, and if she cared at all about his chosen appellation, she didn't betray it. Instead she was focused on the creatures of Grimm, the minions around him, piecing together why they were not attacking their natural enemy.

The self-proclaimed Ruin King still needed a guide, so perhaps he could indulge her curiosity. "The shadow beasts are drawn to negative emotion," he explained… but that did not change her mood. Perhaps she already knew. "They're drawn to me because… I have a lot to feed them with."

He extended the hand holding the bowler hat, watching the girl's heterochromic eyes follow it, keeping her attention. "My despair sustains me, and no matter how they feed they cannot take my life. So they follow. So they obey. Because they are quenched by my pain."

He stepped towards her. At first the girl was apprehensive, but did not move to defend herself when he placed the lost friend's cap upon her head.

"You can do it too, if you use your pain and loss to steel your resolve," the Ruin King told her. "If you wish it, I can make you stronger. I can teach you to use your emotion to wield those born of shadow like the unthinking weapons they are."

That appealed to her; he could see her Dust twist again, her focus given a new goal.

"Lead me to her," the Ruin King requested. "Lead me to my Snow Angel."

For her part, Neopolitan had intended only to use the 'king's time to recuperate before destroying the Grimm threatening her, but his proposal intrigued her. Anyone who could control the Grimm, rather than simply direct them, would be a force to be reckoned with. Only Cinder Fall had demonstrated such power, and now she could learn it.

And once she led this 'Ruin King' to his lost love –or whatever his delusion was- she'd have an opportunity to hurt one of those close to Ruby Rose; to hurt the girl who took her dear Roman away. She'd relish the opportunity for revenge, however strained it'd make her new alliance. Wearing Roman's cap and carrying on his legacy, she'd kill one enemy and forever wound another.

Neo looked down at the Scroll, at the image of Weiss Schnee, whom this mad 'king' believed he knew… and prepared to give the snow another scar.


	2. No Safe Haven

**Chapter Two: No Safe Haven**

 _Vale Safe Zone, After the Silver Explosion_

Weiss opened her eyes, an empty, gray sky above her. She took in her surroundings: no sign of the tower, no sign of Ruby- she was no longer in Beacon.

"Ruby?" she asked immediately, looking frantically around for her partner. She attempted immediately to stand, only to find herself unsteady, even in her heels, and stumbled… right into the arms of her sister, Winter, standing vigil.

"Easy," Winter suggested. "You were unconscious for a few hours: the blast knocked you out."

"Blast?" Weiss repeated, taking in her surroundings. There were a few other people wandering in the distance, Atlas soldiers marching in lockstep patrols even further beyond them. It was the dead of night, but every building was lit, every store open and tending to patrons and refugees alike. In her peripheral vision Weiss could make out several other individuals lining the ground in cots, just like the one she sprang from: including Yang, still out. Weiss wriggled her way out of Winter's hands and rushed to her teammate's side, scanning the area in every direction for either of the other AWOL two.

"Where are Ruby and Blake?" Weiss inquired, still looking down at Yang.

"After your ill-advised misadventure, your partner was taken by Qrow Branwen," Winter answered. "She is safe, and in the custody of her family."

"And Blake?" Weiss pressed.

"I don't know," Winter replied. "Some of your allies are meandering nearby- they may know." She stepped over to Weiss and placed a hand on her younger sister's shoulder; affectionate but very firm. "However, there will be time for that later. Now that you're conscious, I'd like to have you examined as soon as a medic becomes available."

"There's no time for that now!" Weiss snapped. "I had a full headcount just… just a little while ago, and now one of my friends is missing. That _isn't_ something I'm inclined –or even able- to ignore!"

Winter tightened her grip. "Weiss-"

"Please, Winter," Weiss requested, "I just need to know she's alright. Once I see her, once I've had a word with her –once I've chewed her out for making me worry- then I'll see whoever it is you want me to see."

"You shouldn't agree to my terms so easily," Winter suggested. "The medic was just the start of it."

"What else, then?" Weiss asked, squirming in Winter's grasp in the general direction of… wherever she thought Blake might've gone, really.

"You've been recalled," Winter told her, speaking slowly and clearly. "Father's on his way to collect you."

Weiss froze in her tracks.

After an eternity of a moment, she asked: "Father's coming here?"

"As soon as the Vytal Festival feed was cut, he summoned his personal ship and his retainers," Winter explained. "He called me from the plane; he'll be here in half a day."

"And he told you to keep an eye on me, no doubt," Weiss grumbled.

"He wasn't so kind," Winter assured her sister. "He told me to bind you in the stockade until he got there. He seemed very clear on the fact he couldn't trust you to wait for him."

"Well, he's right about that," Weiss flatly agreed, before inclining her head to look back at Winter. "Can he trust you?"

Winter finally relaxed her grip on Weiss's shoulder. "Unfortunately for him, I have other military duties to attend to, and I made that very clear to him. I've already used up all the personal time General Ironwood has allowed me waiting for you here."

Weiss turned to face her sister at last. "So you won't stop me?"

"Stop you from doing what?" Winter asked, playing coy.

Weiss frowned. "If Blake's… if she's not _here_ , then-"

Winter raised a hand. "I expect I'll see you shortly and we'll find you in perfect health. Then I'll find space in the temporary barracks for you to rest, and then we'll see Father together when he arrives."

It wasn't a command, but a clear expectation. And vague enough in the details to be plausible. There was a deadline, but more than enough time to be back in place and stick to the script when Father asked.

Weiss took a moment to hug her sister, tightly, but only briefly. She gave her one last look and then headed off in search of any of her friends. Winter watched her sister's retreating back but could not bear to look at even that.

Not with knowing what Weiss would find.

* * *

"She's gone?!" Weiss exploded, knocking Sun over with the force of her voice.

Once he managed back to his feet, Sun was very kind in restraining himself. "When the guards changed shifts, she slipped out. I wanted to call to her, I wanted to tell her to stay… but, I made a call. I let her go."

"Well, you made the _wrong_ call!" Weiss snapped, before gradually composing herself. "Fine. In which direction did she proceed?"

"Weiss-" Sun began, but was abruptly cut off.

"Which. Direction?"

"She went back towards Beacon," Sun answered simply. "Right back into that nest of Grimm."

"Thank you," Weiss said curtly, before turning away.

"Weiss," Sun interjected, "I don't know why she's doing this or where she's going, but we're all moving somewhere. My team's already heading back to Mistral, and most of the other tournament participants have left."

"Are you coming to a point?" Weiss asked harshly. "I'm losing valuable time with this conversation."

"My point is, Blake is better at going into hiding than we are," Sun told her. "She can make it through that mess of Grimm and find somewhere to hunker down. If you follow her into that mess, you may not be able to say the same."

His words were born of concern. She couldn't fault his intentions, regardless of his poor judgment.

"Thank you for your concern," Weiss answered politely, "but if one of your teammates were unaccounted for, would you wait behind a high wall for them to come back?"

Sun didn't take long to think. "No, I wouldn't. But none of my teammates can do what she does. She doesn't need saving."

"You're right, she doesn't need me," Weiss conceded. " _I_ need her. And _she_ needs to honor her word."

* * *

Weiss took off towards the southern border of the Vale safe zone without another word, running until she found the two Atlesian soldiers manning a checkpoint on the way out.

"Excuse me, miss," one soldier began, raising a hand to quell Weiss's charge, but she very quickly raised her scroll to show them identification.

"Gentlemen, my name is Weiss Schnee," she told them. "I'm here on official business of the Schnee Dust Corporation to recover our missing… personnel and escort them back to the Safe Zone."

The first soldier looked over her credentials. "Um, miss, we have strict orders not to allow any citizens past this checkpoint without-"

"Without the express permission of General Ironwood, I assume?" Weiss finished for him. "Well, unfortunately, the General is far too busy at the moment to personally approve every request. I'm afraid you'll have to take my word for it."

"Miss, with all due respect, what are you trying to pull?" the second soldier asked. "Why would the general send a little girl –a non-military little girl- out of the Safe Zone?"

Playing it kind had not produced the desired result.

"Soldier, I understand your concerns," Weiss said, her voice becoming lower with each word, before leaning forward, closer to both men. "But I'm afraid you've overstepped. I am not your commanding officer… but I _am_ the heiress of the Schnee Dust Corporation, and I _will not_ be spoken to like that."

Weiss put it on a little stronger, aggressively stepping forward. "If you want to challenge my claim, then by all means, call in to the command center and ask for General Ironwood. I'm sure he won't mind you bothering him about bureaucratic procedure."

The second soldier abruptly lost his confidence and snark. "Well, uh-"

"If you insist on wasting my time, then perhaps you'd like to compose a full report on this matter?" Weiss continued.

"Uh, no, really, that's okay…"

"Good, then we agree. I'll be gone only briefly, and I expect you both to be more cooperative upon my return," Weiss stepped to the border, walking past the two soldiers, waiting for one to try and stop her… hoping she wouldn't need to harm innocent men just trying to keep citizens safe.

"Y-yes, ma'am," the first soldier stuttered.

Weiss nodded and stepped forward, the guards both looking away when she glanced back their way.

"You really think she had proper clearance?" the second one asked of his colleague.

"Call Ironwood and find out. I ain't risking latrine duty again," the first guard replied.

Her ruse apparently successful, Weiss stepped past the city towards the dense forest and the ruins of Beacon in the distance.

Blake had a substantial head start, but if there were Grimm impeding the path, Blake would use up time and energy avoiding them, drawing on her aura and requiring time to rest. Weiss would have no such impediment. She would cut through any Grimm in her path and bring Blake back, if she had to be dragged kicking and screaming.

As her Father would do to Weiss in a few short hours. She unconsciously reached up to her left eye, feeling the faint indentation of her scar… her father's parting gift.

She put him out of her mind. Finding Blake and reuniting her team: that was what mattered. That was _all_ that mattered.

The snow angel stepped into the dark forest, searching for a lost soul to bring home.


	3. Born of Shadow

**Chapter Three: Born of Shadow**

Running. Always running.

 _You're not one to back down from a challenge, Blake._

 _But I am! I do it all the time!_

It didn't matter how fast she ran. The memories were always at her heels.

 _I was born with the ability to leave behind a shadow of myself- an empty copy that takes the hit while I run away!_

A tear dropped to the ground far below. Blake ignored it, continuing to sprint through the trees, trying desperately to put the past out of her mind and focus on the path ahead. The weight of her words and deeds were too much to bear, so she ran.

 _Running away again. Is that what you've become?_

It was what she had always been. She'd just deluded herself into thinking –however briefly- she could be more than that.

 _I'm not running!_

 _You_ _ **will**_ _._

And she had. Right when the others had needed her, she'd faltered again. They couldn't rely on her. They'd be better off without her, and she'd be better off forgetting them.

If she could run far enough to stop hearing their cries.

* * *

With each step he took, the self-styled Ruin King left deep indentations in the ground. Dirt and moss scattered, rock broke in two. He'd been powerfully built in his youth, but now it was the shadow beasts giving him strength and weight. Now the darkness filled his vessel, bloating his flesh and tainting large patches of his skin as black as the creatures in his thrall.

Neopolitan was wise to remain distant from him and his small guard of beasts. What little he could see of her emotions, of the lingering feelings she was now burying, she was questioning the benefit of the alliance. Perhaps she did not intend to betray him immediately, but if opportunity presented itself to abandon this mission… she needed incentive to continue on. The revenge she desired was still burning brightly beneath the icy exterior, but the passage of time had allowed her to think on a more pragmatic course.

Why did she hate the snow angel?

But then again… why did he still love her?

The disturbance in his emotions drew the shadow beasts' attention. One Ursa among their number fell out of formation, snarling at Neo, who instinctively prepared to battle.

The Ruin King raised one hand, concentrating. "I promised you knowledge," he said to Neo. "I will gladly now impart my first lesson.

"The shadow beasts have plagued this world as long as we have existed," the Ruin King continued. "Perhaps even before that. But our presence sustains them, our emotions their only source of sustenance. I cannot say for certain if they've evolved, but I have seen them _change_ , if nothing else, in the course of their short lives.

"They begin as unthinking, driven only by instinct and emotion," the Ruin King explained. "Naught but frustration and wrath given form. They never abandon those instincts, they never forget where they begin… but gradually, they comprehend more. Blind fury transitions to cautious, measured attack."

The sole rebel Grimm snarled at Neo. She readied her umbrella, glaring at her supposed ally as he rambled off his exposition.

"This one is no different," the Ruin King stated. "It followed me out of the desert, and observed. I may have given it enough to feed on, but its thoughts became more complex.

"You don't see it," the Ruin King observed, as the Ursa drew closer to Neo. "You see only the same monster you have always seen; and always slain, if I had to speculate. Its tactics are changing, and you are ill-prepared for it.

"But then," he added, before driving his raised hand into the back of the Ursa's skull, "so am I."

The Ursa fell forward, and slowly –slower than most slain Grimm- it faded away. Neo glanced back at her ally, as the remaining Grimm did nothing at all in response.

"These beasts should be tools," the Ruin King told her, "lest they become unruly, and forget the purpose they serve.

"I cannot control them once they mature to a certain point," the Ruin King told Neo, who was still wielding her parasol as though expecting to be attacked at any moment. "But fortunately, their numbers are infinite… and they come to fill the missing rank sooner or later."

Barely a few seconds passed before a Beowolf stepped from the woods behind them, joining the Ruin King's line of minions. "They are drawn to the negative energy imbued within me… the despair that keeps me living, and keeps them fed.

"Anyone with a strong enough emotion can master the shadow beast's will," the Ruin King continued. "Your emotions are still tainted by the pain of your colleague's death; it hasn't yet become a cold focus. So you will draw anger and violence… and unless you control yourself, you won't be able to control them."

His words resonated with Neo. Cinder had demonstrated similar focus, and had walked among hordes of Grimm without fear. Perhaps simple confidence was all she needed… the same confidence she felt in battles against other humans.

"Do not misconstrue me," the Ruin King added. "This will never be a simple task. You will never truly command them; in the end, they will seek to consume you, to take your essence and blot it out."

He tapped a black patch on his chest. "In the end, they will consume me too… all that holds them at bay is this."

Neo looked expectantly, waiting to hear more.

The Ruin King took another step, breaking the ground beneath his weight. "Onward, my friend. Lead me to my snow angel."

* * *

Blake was nearing Beacon now. And the closer she got, the greater the number of Grimm. Ursa, Beowolves, Taijutus, Borbatusks, and Creeps… they wandered in small packs. They were delaying her progress, even as she moved high above them in the trees, jumping from branch to branch: she had to stop and wait whenever an enemy below stopped to search, and every time she wasn't moving, every time she didn't press forward, she could hear Adam taunting her, she could hear Yang's soft unconscious breathing…

Blake tried desperately to put it out of her mind, but it kept coming back, and eventually, it cost her. It made her erratic, and ultimately, sloppy. In trying to move, she misjudged the distance to a branch, and nearly fell, saved only by the timely use of Gambol Shroud to grapple and not fall to the ground.

And then swing right in the path of a pack of Beowolves.

Blake attempted first to use her momentum and retreat upwards, but one of her foes reacted quickly, and Blake retracted Gambol Shroud so she could fire in the beast's face, and fell to the ground amidst the pack.

Three more Beowolves took up positions around her, stifling themselves so as to attack from multiple angles.

Perhaps it was exhaustion. Perhaps it was her desperation to keep running. Perhaps it was inevitable.

But what should have been a simple task to eliminate her foes instead became a calculated retreat, as Blake utilized her semblance, leaving behind a Shadow to be destroyed in her stead, leaving confused Grimm behind. She returned to the trees and kept moving forward…

* * *

…and the Ruin King stopped in his march.

"We're not alone," he told Neo, as the Grimm around him began to react, glancing in multiple directions, snarling at the seemingly empty air.

Neo glanced at him skeptically, then back at the Grimm, apprehensive once again. The Ruin King dismissed her, searching in the dark for the flicker of light he'd seen.

Aura, somewhere in the distance. A Semblance, bending the darkness with faintest illumination. A shadow amidst infinite blackness was searing in light.

Then he saw it clearly, as it broke down, and the darkness reformed. The path to it was clear.

"Another, perhaps, for us to question," the Ruin King thought. "Anyone foolhardy enough to wander into the midst of these shadow beasts is either very brave… or very desperate.

"Let us see if they have anything to offer."


	4. Night That Has No Day

**Chapter Four: Night That Has No Day**

Weiss normally utilized poise and finesse, carefully measuring her adversaries and utilizing only the necessary amount of force and energy with each application of Aura or swing with Mytrenaster. On this night, however… time was of the essence, and she was far behind someone far better suited to fast retreats than herself. Though exhausted from constant battle, Weiss would not be deterred. She would not lose her friend. Not again. Not ever.

The Grimm continued to emerge in the dark woods, and one after another they were slain by her blade and her glyph and her Dust. Whenever a larger Grimm delayed her, she struck more frantically and rapidly, burning through each enhancement and color. That concerned her far more than how tired she was of swinging her arm. She was confident she could push herself to Blake, but she wanted to keep a few extra capsules and ammunition when she got there.

In case additional persuasion was required.

* * *

The Ruin King and his erstwhile ally Neopolitan drew nearer to their latest quarry, surrounded by Grimm with no clear direction to escape to. It would take effort for him to quell a horde of greater size, but he would devote effort to it. A display of power may have been all that was required to convince this survivor with such an interesting Semblance to yield to him.

He concentrated, and slowly, the shadow beasts began to calm, the promise of a greater feast drawing their attention. Slowly, they abandoned the hunt and drew themselves to him. The Ruin King stopped his march and waited, his senses taking time to adjust as more of the darkness poured in. He closed his eyes, and witnessed the soulless masses draw to him, throwing off his equilibrium.

It would require more energy, and he was already over-extended from days of march and a greater number of intelligent shadow beasts. He clenched his fists, grit his teeth, and focused. More black flesh sprouted on his chest, enveloping more of his body… but the relief, the distribution of weight allowed him to regain composure.

He stepped forth again, sinking deeper into the ground from the added mass. The living entity had used the shadow beasts' distraction to conceal herself above them in the trees, waiting for the rest of the storm to abate.

Yet he could see her aura clearly, her emotions a tangled, distorted mass amidst the calm. To an untrained observer it was a dark patch amidst leaves and branches. To him, it was a streak of gray in the dark.

"Hello," he greeted. "I understand your concern, but I am not here to harm you."

There was no response. She was trying to remain hidden, and perhaps thought he'd yet to notice her. She was used to going unnoticed and walking in the shadows. Perhaps because he understood that feeling, the Ruin King was patient.

"You do not need to fear me," he continued. "I just want to ask you a question. I'm trying to find someone."

"Maybe one of your Grimm friends found them first," came a curt, snapping response.

Beside him, Neopolitan suddenly grew very alert. She recognized their quarry. And her rage once more boiled to the surface.

"The shadow beasts are in my thrall now, my friend," the Ruin King explained. "They will not harm you so long as I will otherwise. I only wish to ask a question…" He glanced briefly at Neo as he saw her emotions flare up. "…nothing more."

"I don't have any answers for you," she replied from above him.

"Perhaps you will when you know what my question is," the Ruin King countered, still eyeing his multicolored ally carefully. "I beseech you, miss… there is only one thing I need to know."

Several moments of silence. Tormented mass of emotions though she was, the girl was disciplined enough to hold her tongue. So he took a leap of faith.

"Have you by chance seen a snow angel?"

It was a ridiculous inquiry, and it would've been just as perplexing if he'd asked it before becoming the abomination he was. And yet… yet he clearly saw her emotions change. She recognized the term, and she reacted. She did not betray this with words, but that was irrelevant. He had a lead.

"I… don't know what you mean," came the reply. It was meek, trying to mask with ignorance and fear.

She may have known when to be silent, but she was a poor liar.

"I know you are afraid, girl, but please do not lie to me again," the Ruin King requested. "I can see you clearly. I can feel every word… and every _meaning_. So please, answer my question:

"Have you seen a snow angel?"

She attempted to flee. The Ruin King waved his arm, and a Griffon at his side took flight, crashing into the tree, seeking to jostle her loose.

Sure enough, she appeared to fall down and land before them, but it was a hollow copy, a patch of Dust made to appear human… or, more accurately, to appear Faunus.

More tellingly, Neo at last reacted, and cut the facsimile down, breaking it apart with the blade in her umbrella. Her brief flash of satisfaction was again subsumed by rage once she recognized the Faunus's deception.

The Ruin King, however, saw her clearly still in the tree, and waved his arm again. The Griffon dove into the branches and thrashed about. It was met by a hail of bullets, but it was strong enough to continue its mad flailing, eventually knocking the Faunus girl loose. She continued shooting it as she fell to the ground, and the Ruin King happily let it expire and fade away: one less distraction, one last weight to counterbalance.

When she landed, she landed gracefully and took stock of the situation. While she was clearly unnerved by the sight of the king and his shadow beasts, it was Neopolitan she reacted to, as her previously conflicted mass of emotions sharpened into furious, burning anger.

"You!" she raged at Neo, "Did you put him up to this?!"

Neo moved to attack again, but a trio of Beowolves moved between the two, as the Ruin King took another earth-shattering step towards this new woman.

"My ally is overzealous," he said, attention focused on the Faunus. "She would kill you before you were of use to me.

"You knew my words," he pressed. "Tell me where you saw her. Tell me where my snow angel is."

Blake looked up at him, very perplexed. " _Your_ snow angel?"

The Ruin King dropped his measured composure, as his own emotion –so long buried- bubbled to the surface again. "A noblewoman of Mantle. A great beauty with fair skin, with blue eyes, with hair white as snow… an angel given flesh and form. An angel with a scar upon the left."

He could see her eyes widen and her emotions flare again. She didn't just recognize the description he'd given, she _knew_ it, and knew it intimately.

He was too close now. He had to see her. The careful composure he'd maintained was breaking down and the shadow beasts would prey on his weakness and imbalance. He would not be denied what had been fated to him.

"Tell me where she is, Faunus girl," the Ruin King instructed. "I will see her."

Blake steeled herself. "I don't think she'll want to see you."

She wasn't wrong. Why would his snow angel want to see him? After what he'd done… after breaking the stoic, snowy perfection and leaving that scar… after he'd stained the sand with her blood…

But right now this girl was telling him something he didn't want to hear. The anger he'd buried erupted, and he seized the girl by the throat and lifted her, clenching her neck in his oversized fist.

"You understand nothing!" he shouted to her face, the shadow beasts around him becoming unruly, mirroring his emotions. They thrashed and snarled and roared, even attacking each other with tooth and claw as the outpouring of fiery anger pierced the empty dark. Neopolitan was so unnerved she actually briefly subsided her own hate of Blake… at least momentarily, so she could edge away from her 'allies'. "Were you there in the heart of war, Faunus?! Were you there to pledge your heart and have it torn away?!"

"What war?" Blake countered, maintaining her composure. "What are you talking ab-"

"Do they teach children nothing now?!" the Ruin King roared, his minions growing ever more violent, two of their number struck down by stronger comrades and rapidly evaporating. "Does Vale wish to wash its hands of the atrocities it committed against my kingdom? Does Mantle wish to forget the promises they broke to my father?!"

Blake was at first confused by his ranting, but pieces started falling into place. "Mantle? Mantle hasn't existed since…

"I tire of your distractions," the Ruin King snapped. "One final time, Faunus girl... where. Is. My. Snow. Angel?"

But he didn't need her to answer, because he saw it.

A flicker of white against the infinite black. A single snowflake on a dark night.

She rushed towards them, headlong and reckless. Exhausted, but refusing to yield, she finally joined them, weapon in-hand. She took note of the shadow beasts, but quickly refocused her gaze on the Faunus in his hand.

"Blake!" she cried.

The Faunus fell silent again. Her emotions flared up, but she did not speak. She was afraid for her friend's safety… not relieved an ally had come to join her in battle. She was afraid that she'd have to answer to her, not grateful to see her again. The Faunus's affection for the snow angel was overwhelmed by weighty guilt.

But that mattered not at all. His anger evaporated, and he dropped the girl, taking a crushing step towards her. Standing between the scattered trees, she shone brightly in the night, a pillar of light with a single red blemish.

The Ruin King took another giant step towards her, and she drew back in fear of him and the shadow beasts in his thrall.

His rage was gone. The moment had finally arrived.

He dropped to a single knee, bowing his head, prostrating himself. "I'm so sorry," he said, his voice breaking, his lips quivering.

Weiss, perplexed by this strange man's behavior, kept her attention on Blake, looking past him. "S-sorry? For what?"

The Ruin King had not known what to expect her to say, but confusion did not become her. He knew he'd been displaced, that time had passed in his isolation, that perhaps she would pay him no heed at all and not say a word to him… but this he was not prepared for.

He kept his head lowered. "I beg you to forgive me," he continued. "I beg you, my love."

"Love?!" Weiss repeated, still watching Blake as she recovered on the forest floor, massaging her throat. Weiss tried to edge her way forward, looking for a way past the swarm of Grimm. "Sir, please… I… uh, I'd like to help you with your issue, if you'll just let me tend to my friend-"

Friend? She had not looked down on the Faunus as so many others did, but his snow angel had never befriended any. It would not be proper, it would not be accepted by her peers in high society. Why was there so much contradictory information?

Finally the Ruin King looked up at her. She had not aged a day… indeed, she looked even younger than he remembered.

"Why won't you hear me, Erzengel?" the Ruin King asked. "I just… I wanted to make amends… I wanted you to forgive me."

He could not see her emotions, his own were so strained. Yet his eyes could see her face, and she wasn't merely confused: she was completely lost. She did not know him. She did not know her own name.

"Sir… I think you have me confused with someone else," Weiss began, trying to be patient and composed, even as she searched for an opening to get to Blake. "I will help you with whatever has confused you, but please… please just let me help my friend."

The Ruin King reached up to his forehead, his eyes shifting back and forth. Had his madness grown so deep he was projecting an image onto someone unknown to him? Or was she like him, damaged… broken by the war and the betrayal?

She had forgotten him, clearly. Had she forgotten everything else?

"The war," the Ruin King said finally. "Do you remember what happened in the war, Erzengel?"

Weiss was too tired to continue entertaining this stranger's delusion. "Please, let me just see my friend…"

She was distracted. He needed to remove that factor, so he could understand these events.

"Remove the Faunus," he spoke into the woods. "Do _not_ kill her… not until Erzengel remembers who she is."

At last given incentive, Neo revealed herself and kicked the still recovering Blake into the nearest tree, her stoic frown replaced by a toothy smile.

"Her!" Weiss snapped, leveling her blade forth. "Why are you working with Torchwick's lackey?!"

The mention of the name drove Neo's rage. The diminutive fighter struck Blake harder still with her heel and the flat of her umbrella, pushing the duo further into the wood, as Blake tried to defend herself, only to be routed by Neo's rage.

Weiss moved to assist her friend, only for the Ruin King to wave his hand. A Boarbatusk rolled into her path and clashed against Myrtenaster. The Ruin King himself finally stepped in after his minion, clenching his massive fist over the hilt of her blade.

"We will speak now," he insisted. "Because I have to know."

Weiss glared at him, and in that moment, he saw it clearly… the blood running down her forehead and splashing across her cheek, dropping to the desert sand.

And him, looking down at his hand, stained in her blood, the blood of the woman he loved.

Again he broke down… again his emotions contorted, and the shadow beasts thrashed about, attacking each other, attacking themselves, cutting deep into their hollow black flesh, trying to destroy themselves to be free of the guilt.

Weiss looked at the strange man and the reactions of his minions. She tried to wrench Myrtenaster free, but unable to remove it from his grip, Weiss had no choice but to indulge him.

"Will… will that woman obey you? Will she let Blake live?" Weiss asked.

The number of shadow beasts had diminished, but he sent a pack of Beowolves and a single Ursa in pursuit of the two battlers, leaving only a handful of his dark retainers. "No. She will kill her if the opportunity presents itself," the Ruin King answered. "So my minions will watch and ensure she abides my will."

"I… I have no idea what any of this is about," Weiss told him, still trying to wriggle her sword free. "But bring me to Blake and I will hear you. I promise."

 _I promise._

The Ruin King's expression hardened. He extended his other hand and hoisted the girl up by the throat, catching her off guard.

"Yes, you will hear me," he assured her. "And then, Erzengel… then, my snow angel…

"You will tell me why you betrayed me."


	5. The Moment

**Chapter Five: The Moment**

Blake felt another strike of the heel to her chin, and the air blurred and spun around her before she crashed into the dirt, taking a moment to re-orient herself. Once she was able to regain her bearings, she had to draw back before Neopolitan could strike her with her umbrella shikomizue. Blake readied Gambol Shroud and fired, but where the multi-colored woman had stood an illusion shattered, and Blake had to retreat again before Neo could capitalize on the opportunity to press the attack.

She was incredibly exhausted from running all night, drained from endless battle and emotional fatigue. She was attempting to activate her semblance and flee from the fight, but the hordes of Grimm surrounding them and Neo's own persistence were making that difficult. And if she did flee, she'd be abandoning Weiss to one dangerous adversary and some sort of Grimm-controlling madman.

She had to keep running, but now… now, the circumstances had changed. Before, Weiss and Yang were in the Vale safe zone, and Ruby had been taken off by her uncle. Now, Weiss was surrounded by enemies.

For Blake's own sake.

Weiss shouldn't have come. Blake wasn't worth chasing. She wasn't worth saving. She wasn't worth dying for.

Blake fired at Neo again, and once again an illusion of the diminutive girl vanished and Neo attacked from her blind spot, and all Blake could do was retreat. All she could do was run.

Neo, for her part, was thrilled to finally have one of Team RWBY so completely trapped. Causing one pain was the same as causing it to another. Their leader would suffer if any of her teammates were taken from her.

Suffer as she had suffered. Feel the pain of loss, the despair of helplessness and failure. Giving Ruby Rose a void in her soul would lessen the pain of Neo's own.

Her 'ally' had sent his minions to witness the battle; to ensure Neopolitan didn't kill the faunus. She carefully took stock of the number and their relative positions. They had not staggered themselves to avoid one another's path of attack, and they were becoming increasingly unruly, watching the fight with anticipation. Perhaps they intended to free themselves of their king's bindings and take on the winner.

Well, if so, Neo would time her actions carefully. The numbers were not insurmountable, and they were not the strongest variations of Grimm. Perhaps the Ruin King's grip on them had weakened, and perhaps his power was waning. Waning enough he couldn't enforce his will.

And as for letting Blake Belladonna live… well, in the heat of battle, accidents would happen…

* * *

 _Darkness. Blood. Sand. Distant fire._

 _Snowflakes. Ashes. Sand. Dust._

Why did you betray me, Erzengel? When our promised union would've brought the kingdom together?

 **I am not the person you think I am.**

Enough misdirection! Must you be reminded of what you have done?

… **Remind me.**

 _Chaotic mélange. Jumbled words. Broken promises. Forgotten names._

We were promised to each other. Our marriage was supposed to bring peace between our nations. My kingdom was a tributary ally of Vacuo, and if we brought Mantle into the fold, the west and the north would be united and we would not waste resources on pointless war.

You were not happy then, when we met. Why should you be? A scrawny boy unworthy of inheriting his father's seat; a spoiled child who'd never seen battle and knew nothing of the hardships of his underlings… a noblewoman, future head of her family promised to an inadequate inheritor. You'd be forced to leave her home and seat of power for harsh, desolate land. You'd have to pledge yourself to someone you'd never met for the sake of others, including those you did not interact with.

 **When did this happen?**

 _Years ago. Tomorrow. A lifetime. Yesterday._

I cannot say how long it's been. When you and the others of Mantle captured me and bound me to the shadow beasts-

 **Wait, stop. Tell me what that means. Tell me what happened.**

Oh, but I am not done. No, there is far more to be said.

Perhaps you did not love me, but you accepted the part you had to play if it meant peace. If it would help abate the Great War, you would do your duty.

 **The Great War? How is that even-**

 _Darkness. Blood. Sand. Distant fire._

 _My sword. Her eye. My wrath. Her scar._

When you came to my kingdom to entreat with my father, we were introduced. I was a timid, frail boy, trying to stand beside more accomplished soldiers and courtiers, but seeing you, Erzengel…

 _Light in the dark. Snow in the desert. December in July._

…seeing you, I puffed out my chest and lowered my pitch, and tried to play the part of a better man. I was weak, but I pretended I could be more. I offered you my hand and volunteered to show you the kingdom.

When I held your hand…

 _Fire and water. Snow and sand. Light and dark._

 **What happened then?**

* * *

"Your semblance," the Ruin King said after a long silence. "Show me your semblance."

Weiss was not inclined to humor him further. "I really think it best if you let me go and put a stop to this foolishness."

"Show me!" the Ruin King shouted. "Summon the departed back!"

Weiss's blue eyes widened. How had he known? Had Neo observed her and told him… or was his mad babbling a real recollection after all?

The Ruin King still held her pinned, so eventually, slowly, she complied, and drew a glyph in the air between them, straining herself and further drawing upon her aura to repeat something she'd done only once before… and drew from the empty air the leg of the Atlesian knight that scarred her, stamping its foot in the dirt before her foe.

The Ruin King's anger evaporated as he smiled at the sight, and placed his hand upon it, with a gentle caress, and not the brutish force he'd used to subdue Weiss. A glyph formed in his massive palm.

"What are you-" Weiss began, but paused upon witnessing herself, as the knight's leg was distorted and broken up, each piece drawn to a separate place in the circle, each transfiguring with some form of discoloration, becoming darker than it had been before. Once all the matter that had made up the leg was broken down, the Ruin King closed his hand.

 _Snowflakes. Ashes. Sand. Dust._

The Ruin King opened his hand, and many globules fell to the ground, each darkened, each a distinctly crystalline structure rather than the raw material it had been. Weiss's eyes widened as she recognized it: after all, she'd seen it all her life.

"Gravity dust?" Weiss asked.

The Ruin King nodded. "That is what makes me special, snow angel… to bend space and time in my hand, to break raw material and forge Dust from it." He jerked his now free hand back at the remaining Grimm with him. "Your summons bring back pieces of the dead; empty vessels without souls or aura. The shadow beasts are the same. Their bodies are hollow and can be easily bent to my will.

"But they do not follow me because of my power," the Ruin King continued, refocusing his attention on Weiss. "They are drawn to negative emotion; they feed on it, they multiply when in proximity to it."

The Ruin King ran his free hand over his chest, over the black patches of flesh. "I have taken the unliving and bound them to my will, using the empty and the soulless to carry on. The shadow beasts are nourished by my feelings… and I in turn, use their flesh to extend my life, dilating time further and further."

"How far?" Weiss asked, finally, genuinely curious.

The Ruin King looked at her scar.

 _Darkness. Blood. Sand. Distant fire._

He saw the moment when he finally broke down and struck her, leaving a deep gash upon her left eye. She fell to the sand, her beautiful blue eye drowned in blood. The battle raging around them had leveled his kingdom, the night alive with dancing flame, brief patches of fire and blood against the infinite dark and the empty sand.

"I have lived the same moment for an eternity," the Ruin King told her. "The same emotion, the same moment, the same living Hell." He pointed his free hand right in Weiss's face. "The moment when my snow angel betrayed me, when my love took my future away.

"That is what the shadow beasts feed on," the Ruin King told her. "The love contorted to despair, the moment made eternal."

 _Chaotic mélange. Jumbled words. Broken promises. Forgotten names._

That was not the only moment he could recall. Betrayal meant nothing without context.

When he held her hand, and spoke. "I do not know if you will love me, but I will love you and treat you with all that you are due. I will ask nothing that would dishonor you or your name, and give all that I can for you and for what we must build. I promise"

And his angel did reply: "I will try to love you as I can, and bring peace and prosperity to your kingdom. Whatever I behold before me in or in the mirror, I will smile at you and your people. I will change things for the better. I promise."

Perhaps it would work, perhaps it would not, but they were bound in their own words, and not the oath sworn by their fathers and their nations. They would proceed to the future together.

 _My sword. Her eye. My wrath. Her scar._

And then, a day… two? Three? A time later, in the dead of night, the soldiers of Mantle descended and wiped them out, using superior weapons and greater numbers. His father was slain, his councilors fled, his subjects left to the brutal whims of their new occupiers. He tried to counteract, to fight back, but he had been small and weak, not meant for the fight. The only soldier he'd been able to best in combat had been a woman.

His snow angel. His enemy. His love. His assassin.

He'd forced her to the ground and scarred her… and then… he could not continue. He simply stopped, and time stopped with him, as he remained trapped in that moment, seeing nothing but her betrayal and his attack on his love.

 _Darkness. Blood. Sand. Distant fire._

The Ruin King returned to the present and refocused his attention. "Why, Erzengel? Why did you betray me? Why did you break your promise?"

"I am not the person you think I am," Weiss insisted, "And it's clear now why. Tell me once more, when this battle was fought?"

"When Mantle invaded my kingdom, and you-"

"Mantle was gone before I was born," Weiss interjected. "And I'd guess, so was your kingdom. Lost in the Great War."

"Is that what they called it?" The Ruin King snorted. "I guess it suits them to not be honest and admit their hand in butchery."

Weiss needed to break through his rantings. "The Great War was _eighty years ago_."

The Ruin King focused his attention on her, and on her scar again. "Why, Erzengel? Why do you still insist on playing this game?"

"Oh, stop," Weiss snapped. "You must've known this; that time had passed. Your Semblance may have interfered with that and –and- the Grimm may have affected your mind…"

He had known it was madness, that his pursuit was the result of long isolation. Before he'd resigned himself to merely existing, as a specter, a ghost in the desert. He'd been driven entirely to relive a single moment, to see again the woman who had defined the life he'd made for himself. Somewhere, buried in his desperation and his sense of purpose, he'd known it was folly.

"Erzengel-" the Ruin King began.

"My name is Weiss Schnee." Weiss countered.

Weiss was not much for believing in fairy stories, but she had clear evidence to work from, and firmly believed that she could counteract the machinations of the powers of this world… and the powers of the world that preceded it. Whatever this fallen noble's power, however sad his fate, he was an impediment to saving her teammate- her _friend_. She pitied him his state, and had been entirely sincere in offering aid, but he had taken too long in telling her his tale. Blake was in danger, and whatever kindness she could offer to him was secondary to that fact. He could remain trapped in the past a while longer if she could save Blake.

She had waited trapped long enough and readied Myrtenaster as she drew upon another summon. Another arm of the knight formed and slammed into the Ruin King's own. She lifted her blade and unleashed a blast of ice between his loose fingers, binding his hand together so he could not tighten his grip.

Weiss dropped from his hand and drew back, drawing glyphs along the ground to aid in her retreat before the Ruin King used his free hand to slap the Atlesian knight's arm away, pursuing her.

"ERZENGEL!" he raged, reaching after her.

" _My name is Weiss Schnee_ ," Weiss replied simply, selecting the appropriate Dust in Myrtenaster and leveling her blade towards the time displaced man. "And I _will not_ be spoken to like that."

She followed with another burst of ice against his hand, only to watch a glyph form in his massive palm, slowing the ascent of her attack and crushing each Dust crystal before they could materialize and strike him.

"I suppose it would always lead to this," the Ruin King mused as he took another step towards her, sinking deeper into the dirt. "There was no hope of finding my love again, only reliving the same moment again and again.

"I am sorry, snow angel," the Ruin King spoke, the Grimm behind him becoming increasingly unruly. "That this is our miserable fate."

Weiss assumed a parrying stance. "I don't believe I am fated to do anything."

The Ruin King opened his hand, forming another glyph. "You _will_."

He charged her, and as they had eighty years before, the Ruin King and the Snow Angel met in battle.


	6. Checkmate

**Chapter Six: Checkmate**

The horde of Grimm surrounding Blake and Neo had become increasingly unruly… and now whatever semblance of control the Ruin King had over them was gone. They refocused their attentions on the two living sources of aura before them, the two combatants still locked together. The promise of a smaller, closer meal would sate their palates. The anger from the smaller human alone was an appetizing enough feast.

Neo, consumed by thoughts of revenge, was distracted. Blake, driven by self-loathing and tired from a night of battle and retreat, was vulnerable. Even lesser Grimm like these could pose a threat.

Neo floored Blake with another kick, dropping the Faunus on her face into the dirt. She would be too tired to recover quickly and move back to her feet, so she would roll, expecting Neo to strike while she was down. When she moved, Neo would aim, and find her exposed heart in mid-motion. The light would fade from Blake's eyes and she'd lie still…

…or an Ursa would slash at her back, and Neo had to use up her aura to deflect the hit, to shatter a projection of herself and reform without injury, and more pressingly, without Blake in her line of sight. Irritated, Neo slashed the brute and cut it to pieces, while behind her Blake stood up and regained her bearings.

More Grimm descended on them, with Beowolves and Creeps attacking from all directions, and a single Boarbatusk rolling in from the left. Blake turned her attention to the weaker foes, unloading bullets into their black flesh, clearing a path and moving out of the circle, leaving Neo to deal with the rest of the horde. Neopolitan could not easily sidestep out from the circle, and didn't have the Dust to expend to follow after her quarry.

Blake took a moment to glance back at Neo before heading away into the forest, leaving her enemy's wrath unsatisfied. Or at least leaving the Grimm to suffer Neo's wrath in Blake's stead.

Either way she'd have time to escape from both enemies.

And leave Weiss behind.

Her friend was in danger. Blake's instinct was to flee, to run and never look back, but when she had left before, her friends had all been alive and in relative safety. There was no way to tell if Weiss would escape from either Neo or the Grimm-controlling madman.

And even if Weiss did escape, she'd just keep trying to follow Blake. And then…

…Blake would have to face her, or Weiss would die chasing after her. The pain of her guilt would never leave her, no matter how far she ran, unless Weiss lived.

She would fail. Nothing she'd do would help anyone. Adam would emerge at any moment, to kill Weiss right in front of her…

She put the thought out of her mind and tried to focus. To steel herself as necessary and counteract her own nature.

Once she was certain Neo could no longer see her, Blake diverted course, and ran towards the danger and the pain, because if Weiss didn't live through the night, she'd never be able to run far enough.

* * *

Weiss drew a glyph in the dirt behind her and leapt backwards, watching the earth shatter where she'd once stood beneath the force of the Ruin King's expulsion of Gravity Dust. With each clench of his fist, he shattered dirt and rock in a spherical burst, ripping the ground asunder and breaking dirt and stone and wood with ease.

His Grimm minions were thrashing about as well, striking at each other, occasionally attempting to attack Weiss, but most of all slashing at biting at their former master, cutting deep into his black patches of flesh… but drawing no blood, and apparently, causing the Ruin King no impediment.

"Why did you betray me, Erzengel?!" he shouted, incandescent with rage, repeatedly striking at the dirt as Weiss continued her tactical retreat. "Why did you and your soldiers need to butcher my people?! Why did you bind me with the shadow beasts?! Why?!"

Weiss didn't know where to begin, save to reassert herself. "I'm tired of telling you that I am not that woman! I did not betray you and I certainly did not love you- I didn't even know you!"

"Admit your deeds before you die!" the Ruin King raged, switching tactics and grasping one of the Beowolves biting him, flinging it towards Weiss like a particularly unwieldy projectile. Weiss quickly dispatched the Grimm with a slash of Myrtenaster, but the Ruin King had continued his incessant march towards her, swinging his free hand at her flank. Weiss drew up another glyph to counteract the damage, only for her flimsy shield to easily break and the force of his fist to send Weiss flying into the nearest tree.

She attempted to recover, but the Ruin King continued charging at her, opening his right hand and unleashing a burst of Gravity Dust in her face. Weiss felt a powerful, compressing burst as her body slammed into the dirt, pressed down by incredible force, the air around her becoming simultaneously heavier and thinner, robbing her of breath. The Ruin King reached down to take hold of the back of her neck, hoisting her up.

"You and your peers killed an entire kingdom," the Ruin King snarled at her, the Grimm behind him still thrashing wildly. "You broke our pact and slaughtered the innocent." He started trembling, not looking at her, his breathing becoming heavy and ragged. "You ripped out my heart and poured the darkness in."

His hand was shaking, even as he tried to hold Weiss up. If nothing else, his ramblings were giving her an opening, and while his eyes were elsewhere, Weiss drew up Myrtenaster and fired four ice bursts at point blank, smothering his head and encasing both of his hands.

Released from the Ruin King's grip, Weiss drew several glyphs, encircling her foe. She drew another on the tree behind her, and moved her feet up to use it as a springboard. She slashed her foe from multiple directions, attacking from so many angles in such rapid succession she pressed an attack that seemed to be a simultaneous storm of sword strikes.

The Ruin King clenched his fist and broke the ice ensnaring it. He pressed it to the ground, and another circle of Gravity Dust wrapped around them. The Grimm biting and slashing him crashed into the dirt, and Weiss herself eventually dove right into the epicenter and was caught in the gravity well, crashing before her foe.

The Ruin King reached back down and hoisted her up again, bringing her up to eye level. With his other hand he reached up to press one black, distorted finger against her scar. "Does it hurt you, remembering when the one you loved unleashed his rage upon you?"

Weiss's rage finally flared up. Whatever this man's delusions, he'd struck upon a kernel of truth: it did hurt to remember, to see her scar in the mirror and remember how far her father was willing to go in his desire to control her. He'd let his toy soldier permanently damage his daughter because he didn't get his way.

"I can the fire in your soul," the Ruin King told her. "Do you understand it now, Erzengel? How you've tormented me all this time? How I have suffered from your betrayal… and my own?"

His refusal to understand enraged Weiss further. It didn't matter he was insane He'd finally managed to wound her and break her control.

And it would cost him.

Weiss drew a glyph directly behind the Ruin King and another directly behind herself. She spun the Dust cylinders within Myrtenaster, and unleashed bursts of fire. Instinctively, the Ruin King moved his head to the side, but the fire struck the glyph behind him and struck him in the back. Weiss adjusted herself in his hand to press her feet on the glyph at her back, pushing the Ruin King down with one fiery burst after another.

The Ruin King endured the bombardment for several seconds before looking up at Weiss again, holding another shard of Gravity Dust, slowly breaking it between his fingers, grinding it down in slow, painful action… as the fire emerging from Myrtenaster began to slow its movement, to the point each burst barely seemed to move at all.

Weiss's eyes widened, and even the movement of her iris seemed sluggish, as the Ruin King moved out of the path of her attack, letting her own fire come back at her. She'd experienced time dilation before in her studies and practice with Dust, but never in such a large area. The effect was only brief, however, and once out of the path of her attack, the Ruin King let time resume and Weiss was blasted back and pressed against her own glyph to endure one hit after another.

The Ruin King interceded again and reached for her, but Weiss had no intention of letting him lay hands on her again, spinning the Dust cylinders in the hilt of her blade once more and using an air burst to push him back and buy herself time and distance, before following it with another torrent of ice bursts, trying to keep his hands pinned.

Only for his Grimm minions, finally rising after being pinned by the Ruin King's gravity well, to attack her from behind and drive her to the ground, pinning her under the weight of Beowolves and Creeps. She tried to rise, to point her blade back at her enemies, but one of the Beowolves put its entire body weight down on her right arm, holding her in place. The Grimm were still thrashing violently, but their master was focused enough to keep them on task.

The Ruin King took a giant step towards her, his foot sinking several inches into the broken ground. "Enough," he spoke. "There is a way to end this torment, Erzengel."

The Grimm began to rise, lifting the struggling Weiss up with them. They forced her right arm to press against her chest, her blade pointing straight up to her chin.

"We can end the torment together," the Ruin King told her. "With the swing of a sword we can escape that moment, and break the cycle."

He lifted up another shard of Gravity Dust, pressing it between her sword and her chin.

"Do what you did then, and strike without mercy or hesitation," the Ruin King prodded her. "I'll break it down, and time will stop at the center of the explosion. We will finally escape the moment, and we will perish… together."

Weiss glared at him. "I didn't come here to kill anyone."

"You thought you killed me then," the Ruin King replied. "What stays your hand now?"

"I am not-" Weiss began, but stopped. This tactic hadn't been working, and was unlikely to change his mind now. She had to appeal elsewhere, to stop approaching the situation rationally and try to use his emotional turmoil in a constructive, effective way.

 _Emotions can grant you strength, but you must never let them overpower you._

Winter was waiting for her, and time was running out. Every attempt she'd made to reason with this madman had only delayed her progress in finding Blake. When she attempted to fend him off, he'd overpowered her and her own emotions had flared up and made her vulnerable.

Emotion was not her weakness. Not against a foe like this one.

"I never wanted to kill anyone," Weiss said finally. "But I've done… sometimes I've done what was necessary, what was best for the sake of others. That's what we're meant to do when the situation calls for it.

"I don't want to kill you," Weiss continued, refocusing her argument. "I meant it when I said I'd help you when I was able."

The Ruin King looked on, perplexed. The Grimm holding Weiss became more unruly as he lost control over his emotions again. "Then why, Erzengel? All I've ever wanted… all I've ever needed to know is why. Why am I trapped in that moment?"

He'd said that Mantle had 'bound' the Grimm to him. And that this Erzengel had ripped out his heart, perhaps figuratively, perhaps literally. It had to connect to his mental state. "The Grimm are the cause," Weiss suggested. "They're damaging your mind, making you remember."

"Lies!" the Ruin King snapped. "The shadow beasts have no souls; they do not manipulate! If you mean to deceive me, then try telling me something I cannot dispute!"

"I am not the woman you think I am!" Weiss snapped again. "And you know it!"

The Ruin King stopped. He looked upon her, at her scar, at her blue eyes. "I know that I am trapped… perhaps condemned to see you again and again, Erzengel. Whatever form you take, whatever time passes, I am still in that moment. A night without end. A memory given flesh and form, and made real. It doesn't matter if I am mad… you are here, and we are trapped together.

"You wish it to end? I want nothing more than that," the Ruin King told her. "More than I want to know why, I want to be free of it. I want it to end… I want you to finish what you began and end my torment."

Weiss's eyes softened. "I don't want to kill you."

The Ruin King looked down, the Grimm becoming more unstable, his control over them loosening.

Blake moved in from the woods, waiting for the moment to intercede. And found it.

She fired Gambol Shroud at the Gravity Dust in the Ruin King's hand. The shard broke apart, and once more Weiss and the Ruin King and the Grimm were caught in a gravity well, pressed to the ground. Blake then moved to attack the Grimm while they were vulnerable, cutting each one apart, their hollow bodies dissipating off Weiss and allowing Blake to pull her teammate back to her feet.

"Blake!" Weiss began, reaching towards her teammate, only to be quickly rebuffed.

"We're not done," Blake told her curtly, directing Weiss's attention to the Ruin King as he rose up to face them both.

His attention was entirely on Weiss, not even looking at Blake. "This does not concern you," he growled at her. "Leave me to my Snow Angel and you will live. You can keep running, as far as you wish to."

Blake did not reply. Weiss readied Myrtenaster. "This foolishness has gone on long enough. We _don't have to fight._ I came here to find my friend. There's nothing more to be done."

"There is only one way this night ends, Erzengel," the Ruin King replied. "I will be free of the moment. And we will be together, united as one, as we promised."

Blake's face contorted. His words were off, but she knew the sentiment: the possessive need, the dismissal of his love's own wishes. She'd seen where such obsession led, and how destructive it was.

How it hurt her. How it hurt others. No more.

Wordlessly, Blake attacked with Gambol Shroud, cutting savagely at the Ruin King's black flesh. The monarch swatted her away with his massive fist, continuing to press on towards Weiss. Weiss immediately reacted to protect her teammate, drawing a glyph for Blake to land on, to enhance the distance and strength of her counterattack. Blake landed on her feet, and began to slash, her blades releasing air pressure augmented by Weiss's Dust, cutting the Ruin King's back from afar.

Still he was undeterred, marching towards Weiss without pause. Weiss drew up three more glyphs around her pursuer and launched ice shards at each target, bombarding the Ruin King with rapid fire hail. Despite large clumps of ice freezing patches of his skin, he still trudged on, reaching towards Weiss with his giant hand.

"Again and again you deny to be her, yet you do just the same!" the Ruin King snapped. "Why must you hurt me?"

 _Why must you hurt me, Blake?_

Blake's rage flared up again as she stepped out of the glyph and began firing at the Ruin King's back, pursuing him, moving in to attack with her blades, cutting him relentlessly, trying to put the words out of her mind. Trying to cut them out of her memory.

The Ruin King reached back and took hold of both of Blake's wrists in one massive hand, flinging her in front of him, into his path towards Weiss. He lifted one foot and prepared to step on her, but Blake left behind a copy to absorb the impact and dashed backwards, watching her facsimile break and the earth around it shatter under his weight.

Weiss turned her attention to Blake, moving to her side as their foe staggered closer. He was covered in cuts and tears, but did not bleed. He shambled forward, the burns and slashes less of an impediment than the ground he kept sinking in to.

"It doesn't matter how much pain you inflict," the Ruin King told them, vocalizing Weiss's thoughts. "I _am_ pain. I am suffering made manifest… all because of you, Erzengel! All because of your betrayal!"

"This guy's completely lost it," Blake muttered. "If he ever had it to begin with…"

No, there was a core of sanity to his ranting. There was a time he'd been something other than this violent madman. Weiss and Blake could easily keep pace with him without his entourage of Grimm, but all they were doing was wasting their resources and diminishing their energy… and apparently, his psychosis was so deep he wouldn't even let death get in the way of his delusions.

Weiss sheathed Myrtenaster and reached a hand to Blake's wrist, gesturing for her to lower Gambol Shroud. Blake was hesitant, but gradually complied.

The Ruin King continued to stagger forward, reaching towards Weiss. "Erzengel…"

"I told you I'd hear you, once my friend was safe," Weiss told him. "She is; she's here. So tell me. Tell me everything."

"Why do you insist on vexing me?" the Ruin King growled. "I told you what happened, Erzengel-"

"I am not Erzengel," Weiss interjected. "My name is Weiss Schnee. Erzengel… I think Erzengel was my ancestor, if what you're saying is true."

The Ruin King finally stopped his march. He looked at Weiss's eyes, particularly at her scar. He stared so long it made her very self-conscious of it. When the Ruin King looked away from her, it was down to his own hands, and then he very abruptly dropped to his knees and reached up to grasp the sides of his head.

"Not again, not again," he muttered. "Why did it have to happen? Why can't I leave it behind? Why won't time move forward?!"

He slammed his fists into the dirt and bashed his head into the stones and branches. "I have waited so long in the dark, and the only glimmer of light… the only hope I had…" He buried his head in his hands and sobbed without shedding a tear.

"Kill me," he begged. "Please, make it end. I don't want to see it anymore… I don't want to linger when there's nothing left…"

Blake seemed willing to comply, but Weiss held her off. "Tell me more. Tell me _exactly_ what Mantle did," Weiss instructed.

The Ruin King looked down at the black flesh covering most of his body. "I want my soul back."

"What did they do?" Weiss pressed.

 _Snowflakes. Ashes. Sand. Dust._

The Ruin King looked up again, seeing Erzengel stand over him, the blood dripping from her fresh wound. She summoned the empty shell of a defeated shadow beast, and drove its white, ghostly essence into him.

He screamed and thrashed, but it did not deter her. She summoned another and drove it in after the first, filling his body again and again with one soulless ghost after another. His body bloated, his flesh grayed and his screams turned to quiet gasps.

And then, her soldiers pulled the shards and crystals of Gravity Dust from within him, each handed to him by the summoned beasts driven into his body, while he lay prone in the sand. He tried to reach out to Erzengel, but she looked away, and left with her comrades, while he lay there in the ashes of his kingdom. He lay in the darkness and ruin while his Snow Angel left him to die.

Eventually he rose, hours, perhaps days later, alone in empty darkness. He wandered, finding the bodies of his subjects and the ruins of their homes and holdfasts, and eventually, the body of his father, his crown bloodstained, already corroded and rusted.

By law, he was now king. But king of no one, ruler of nothing.

Still, he picked up the mantle and donned it, not bothering to clean the blood. It was fitting, that he should reign over desolation. That he should see nothing but darkness, fire, and blood.

Anything but to remember leaving that scar on his Snow Angel…

He returned to the present, his eyes on Weiss Schnee. He saw her clearly now, without blood on his hands. She was younger than Erzengel had been. Her scar was older, blood long since dried. The resemblance was remarkable… but it was not the same.

"Is Erzengel dead?" the Ruin King finally asked.

"The events you described happened eighty years ago," Weiss explained. "And… um, well…"

"And anyone who fought in the Great War has passed on," Blake finished for her. "Except for you."

The Ruin King looked at Blake, then back to Weiss, and bitterly laughed.

"I am sorry," he said. "I… am sorry to have intervened. Sorry I ever came out of the desert. Sorry… that I lived."

He didn't flash back to the moment. He remained there, with these two strangers in black and white. He couldn't see their aura anymore. He couldn't see the distorted colors of their emotions. He just saw two young girls in blasted woods.

Slowly, the black flesh began to recede. He felt the weight lifting, the darkness fading.

"What's happening?" Blake inquired.

The Ruin King slumped backwards, his entire body dissipating, gradually fading away like a defeated Grimm.

"Wait!" Weiss called, rushing over. "You didn't tell me the rest! I promised I'd hear your story!"

 _I promise._

The Ruin King looked up at her, smiling. "Goodbye, Snow Angel…"

"My name is-" Weiss began, but cut herself off, searching frantically for information as more and more of her former foe's body evaporated. She was running out of time. He'd be gone soon.

"I want to know more," Weiss pressed. "Atlas has access to better historical records than the other three kingdoms combined; I can find out what happened to you. Tell me- what's your name?"

Still smiling, the Ruin King bleakly replied: "It doesn't matter."

The rest of his body dissipated, leaving only an old, rusted crown in the dirt.

Weiss looked down at it, staring for several moments.

Behind her, reassured, Blake collected herself and prepared to depart, before Weiss quickly stood up and pointed at her teammate's back. "Stop."

"We're not done."

* * *

Neo watched the two from beyond the tree line, still panting after fending off the Grimm attack. Her erstwhile ally having abruptly ceased to be, if she wanted to pursue her revenge, she'd have to take on two members of Team RWBY simultaneously. Had she not spent the night battling the Grimm, she might well have been up to the challenge.

But now… now it would be illogical. And revenge, sweet though it had sounded a few hours ago…

Roman's hat kept slumping on her head. It was too big on her head, and she kept having to adjust for it. Still, she'd carry it with her. It was what she had left of him, what she had to remember him. A single ember left from a great roaring fire.

A remnant of what she'd lost. Of what she'd carry with her.

Of what Ruby Rose had taken away.

She'd carry Roman Torchwick's fire forever now. Long after Ruby Rose and her teammates were gone.

She pushed the hat back up, finding a good position to rest it. She turned away from her quarries and left to rejoin her other allies.

The day would come she would fill the void in her heart, bringing fire to the empty hearth. But that would not be today.

Today, she had only a single ember, but as Roman had shown her, even a small spark could create a great roaring fire. And she would, in his name.

One day…


	7. Broken

**Chapter Seven: Broken**

In the forest, still surrounded by the scars of the damage inflicted by the Ruin King and his Grimm, Blake could not turn to face Weiss. She wanted only to run away, but it was clear she'd have to explain herself to her teammate; to justify her actions.

"Well?" Weiss inquired. "Do you care to explain yourself?"

Still so bossy and demanding. It'd be easy for that attitude to turn Blake off, to drive her further away… but no, the familiarity made the separation even more difficult. The quirks and flaws in Weiss's personality only reminded Blake of what she was leaving behind: what she'd grown used to.

What she needed to protect.

"I think my actions have made my intent clear," Blake replied simply.

"All too clear!" Weiss snapped. "How many times do you have to be reminded?! How many times do you have to forget your promise to us- your promise to me?"

"What was I supposed to do?" Blake asked, still not looking at Weiss. "Try to get you all together to talk things out while the Grimm were destroying everything?"

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Weiss pressed. "You ran away _again_! You didn't come to us with your problems! We'd all made it to the safe zone, you could've found me or waited for Yang to wake up. Why did you run?!"

 _I'm not running!_

 _ **You will.**_

"You weren't there," Blake said quietly.

"Weren't there for what?!" Weiss demanded.

"You didn't see what Adam did to Yang," Blake said in barely more than a mumble. "You didn't hear what he said he'd do."

 _ **I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love.**_

"What does that matter?!" Weiss reached towards Blake, irritated from speaking to the back of her head. "You promised me you'd bring your problems to your teammates… to your _friends_. You didn't have to run. Whatever Adam and his White Fang have planned, we can face it together!"

"We _were_ together!" Blake shouted, turning to face Weiss at last. "We were together _and it didn't matter_! It wasn't enough! You, me, Ruby… Yang…" She was quiet for several moments, looking from Weiss to the ground. "…and not just us; our friends, the higher year students, the teachers, and all the combatants in the tournament… we all came together to fight _and it wasn't enough_."

Weiss glared at Blake, her friend still averting her eyes. "That isn't what I meant. Yes, we suffered a setback. Yes, we lost this battle. But running isn't the proper response. If we don't come together, if we don't _stay_ together, then we lose whatever progress we've made."

Blake still looked at the dirt. Weiss didn't understand… how could she? Before yesterday, had she truly known hardship? Known loss like seeing a loved one turn into a monster? Weiss's obsessive determination to bring Blake back was reckless and self-destructive, and she couldn't see it because her optimism hadn't been diluted.

Blake knew about changing perception. She knew about steeling one's resolve in the face of hardship… and about accepting the uncompromising harshness of reality. One was not the same as the other, but each was necessary to grow out of the childish hope Weiss held.

It would break Weiss's heart to hear it. It would cut her deep. It would hurt like nothing else.

It would save her life.

Because she wouldn't chase Blake again.

"Do you think I'm doing something wrong?" Blake finally asked.

"Clearly!" Weiss snapped.

"Didn't your father feel the same when you left for Beacon?" Blake inquired.

Weiss stopped dead, but only briefly. She was still determined, and quickly composed herself. "I don't see what relevance-"

"Didn't someone tell you what you were doing was wrong?" Blake asked, keeping her voice even, trying not to overplay it. "And didn't you know you had to do something different… even if it hurt you? Even if it hurt someone else?"

"That is not the same!" Weiss protested. "What my father did-"

Blake finally managed to look her in the eyes. Weiss's gaze was intense; she was still certain in her purpose, still undeterred. Maybe she wouldn't understand Blake's reasons… but she would know why this had to happen.

"You ran away from your problems. It's the only reason we met," Blake continued. "Because the alternative was worse. Because if you stayed in Atlas, you wouldn't have moved forward."

Weiss was flabbergasted. "You really think this situation is remotely comparable-"

"What I think –what I _know_ \- is you'd rather fight the Grimm all night than talk to your father when he asks you about what happened in Beacon yesterday," Blake told her, applying a bit more pressure.

Unconsciously, Weiss reached up to feel her scar. It had received so much focus from the Ruin King's rants at her, that Blake's renewed focus on her father was making the memory very vivid. It was very easy to see how someone could be trapped in an emotional moment; to replay it over and over. To remember the pain and the betrayal… to have its weight push on your shoulders and tug at your heart.

Blake knew she was nearly there. She needed to deliver the killing blow, and then Weiss would not pursue her. She would shatter that illusion of confidence and Weiss would stop.

"There's no way to change what we've done," Blake continued. "I can't bring back what Adam took from Yang. You can't take back running out on your father. If we're not going to make things right… if we can't… all we can do is keep running. All we can do is move on."

Weiss was silent for several moments, still holding to her scar. She recalled it all now, seeing the Grimm-infused knight fall at her hand, the curtsy she did to mock her father's efforts to control her, the song she sang…

…and then refocused her attention on Blake's yellow eyes. They were too focused; not erratic and emotional like Weiss's were. Blake was being rational and logical; the look suited her.

But it was a lie. Before, Blake had not met her eye. She had tried to flee before they could have this heart to heart. She may have been trying to escape the pain, but doling it back to Weiss did not suit her. It was a carefully laid fabrication, made to exploit Weiss's chaotic emotional state and her exhaustion and desperation.

Weiss's heart had softened since she'd arrived at Beacon. But there was ice enough left in her to shield herself from Blake's deception.

"No," Weiss said simply. "I won't accept that."

"Am I wrong?" Blake asked pointedly.

"You're not wrong… but you're not _you_ ," Weiss replied. "Why are you trying to deceive me, Blake? Why do you think I'll still believe you when you say you can run? That you can 'move on' from your friends?

"Maybe that's who you _were_ ," Weiss continued. "Maybe that's who Adam told you you were, but that's not who you've been for months. Yang pulled you up and made you believe. I won't accept you've just forgotten that. I won't accept that _this_ is who you are."

Blake was at a loss for words. Weiss accepted Blake was correct in her observations but still wanted to fight against fate? Still believed in her? Still wanted to save her?

She felt the wetness in her eye. She felt the deep welling hurt in her chest. If Weiss kept talking, if she kept reminding her of better times…

Blake had tried to break her friend away. Perhaps what she needed wasn't to push away… but to draw her in, to show her the truth of it. If Blake couldn't remove Weiss's hope, then perhaps she could dash it, just enough with raw honesty.

"What Adam did… that was just the beginning," Blake told her firmly. "He won't stop. He _can't_ stop. And I've seen his violence escalate… seen the man he really is emerge. He won't just hurt you; he'll _kill_ you and it'll be my fault.

"Yes, I'm running away. Yes, I'm being selfish… because the people most precious to me will die if I'm not strong enough to leave them," Blake looked away again, hoping Weiss had not seen her tears. "I'm running away from you because I can carry that burden. I can live with the others hating and resenting me… as long as they're alive and safe."

"I don't care what happened yesterday," Weiss replied with her own determination. "If we're together, it won't matter what we face. The Grimm, the White Fang… it doesn't matter if they beat us as long as they never break us. How do you not see that?"

"Because it's a fantasy," Blake answered far too quickly, breaking her calm façade. "Because any one of us-"

"But it won't be one of us," Weiss reassured her. "You and I were alone before this… before we came to Beacon, but we're not alone _now_ , and _now_ is when we can change things. Now is when we can move forward, instead of just move on.

"Please," Weiss pressed, reaching out to Blake. "All you have to do is come with me. Come _home_."

Blake still did not look at her. If Weiss kept speaking like this… despite her instincts, despite the painful memories still replaying behind her eyes, Blake would take her outstretched hand and go back.

"I told you," Blake tried to respond, her voice quivering, her tears dropping to the dirt. "I told you…" She stopped when she felt a tight embrace. She turned her head to see Weiss's shoulder, to feel her hands pressed to Blake's back.

"You don't have to run," Weiss reassured her, speaking with that rare kindness, without her usual fierce order. "We can carry your burden too. We _want_ to. We just – _I_ just- want you to come home."

Was there even anything to refute? Any way Blake could escape? She felt her hands reaching up, pressing into Weiss's back, joining her friend in embrace… feeling the weight, if not lifting, then lessening.

Blake was going to turn her eyes from Weiss's shoulder, but in rotation caught a brief glimpse of a rusted crown lying in the dirt.

The Ruin King had been obsessed with chasing a ghost… driven mad to the point of destruction, to willing alliances with Grimm and criminal psychopaths. Whatever morality he'd had in life had decayed to the point the emotion that had once been love had become so caustic it transformed into something dark and poisonous.

Adam wouldn't live another eighty years, but he'd chase her across the continent –across the world- because she was his only goal. He'd loved her once too, and now what he wanted was to break her down until he was the only part of her life that remained, until all emotion that remained –love or hate- was for him and him alone.

He dismembered Yang. He'd only do worse after that. And it would never stop.

"Weiss…" Blake finally spoke, drawing back enough so she could look her friend in the eye.

 _Thank you. I want to come back. I want to stay with you. I'll never run again if only I can come back._

She could say none of it. She was already running.

The tears streamed down her cheeks as Blake clenched her eyes shut and said: "…I'm sorry."

Weiss felt her grip lessen. It took her a moment, looking into Blake's eyes, then seeing them squeezed shut… it was several seconds before she realized what happened. She tightened her embrace of her friend.

And the shadow Blake left behind crumpled to dust in her arms.

Weiss wanted to shout after her. To curse Blake her foolishness. To reassure her that things would be okay, to reiterate it all and find the magic words that would finally convince her to return.

She could not even speak. She had emptied her heart… and Blake was still running.

Weiss slumped to her knees, pulling her arms to her own chest, holding it tight, trying to bury the love and the hurt both, to steel herself.

But she had failed, and it hurt. It hurt more than anything she'd ever felt.

Weiss sat in the dirt for several minutes, silent, wallowing in her loss. Her tears were so numerous they stained the dirt before her, forming a little patch of water in the crater left by the Ruin King's step.

A flicker of light popped in. Weiss looked up and saw the sun at the edge of the forest, the long night finally at end.

Things were moving on…

Weiss eventually managed to her feet, and took in her surroundings. She took a moment to scout for the Grimm, or some sign of Blake, but she was alone.

Alone save a rusted crown in the dirt, possibly the only proof this fool's errand had ever happened at all.

Weiss took the Ruin King's crown in hand and headed back towards the Vale Safe Zone, leaving the darkness at her back, moving east towards the sunlight.

* * *

She walked all the way to the border of the Vale safe zone. The two guards at the checkpoint called to her, but she could not hear their words. She walked right past them, back towards her friends, while they were left bemused and impotent at their post.

"Should we call this in?" one inquired.

"Sure, if you're offering," his comrade agreed.

"And tell them what? That we let the heiress to the Schnee Dust corporation walk in and out through our checkpoint?" the first shot back.

"Well… I never filed a report. And it doesn't look like she brought any witnesses along."

"Yeah. Shame. You know how paperwork goes missing…"

"Yeah, totally."

* * *

Weiss did not immediately return to the barracks as Winter instructed. There was still time before her father arrived, and Weiss had returned to the medical station to sit vigil over Yang. She wasn't certain whether she wanted to be there when Yang awoke or not. It would relieve her to know her friend was recovering. It would break her to tell Yang where Blake had gone.

The sun rose higher, clearing away the last strands of darkness outside the safe zone. Weiss could see Beacon Tower and the frozen Grimm dragon still perched upon it. She wondered if Blake had seen the same on her departure…

She felt something squeeze her idle hand. Weiss turned to look at Yang's hand, blindly pulling on her own.

"Blake?" Yang asked, voice slurred from her long sleep.

It hurt just to deny. "It's Weiss," she said, leaning in close and placing her free hand on her friend's shoulder. "You've been out for a while…"

Yang finally opened her eyes, searching frantically. "Ruby. The others. Where is everyone?"

"Ruby's safe," Weiss assured her. "Your uncle Qrow took her out of here. The others…" Where to begin? Blake? Pyrrha? Ozpin? None were easy to discuss.

But some were easier than others.

Yang was devastated to hear about Pyrrha. She was concerned about Ozpin, but optimistic he'd survived the battle. Weiss mentioned the others, from Sun and Neptune to Coco and Velvet, but eventually Yang caught on and realized her teammate was avoiding the obvious.

"Blake?" Yang finally asked.

Weiss was silent. She still felt Blake's hands on her back. Still felt the shadow break in her arms. Still saw the flash of tears in her friend's eye. Still heard the faint quiver in her voice. Still remembered how close she'd come.

"She's gone," Weiss said simply. "Sun saw her leave."

"Gone?" Yang repeated. "She ran… again?!" Her temper flared, and she moved her right arm to punch at the wall, only to look down and be reminded of what she had lost. Yang gave a deep, exasperated sigh as she leaned back down. Weiss sat beside her, just listening to her breathing.

Her scroll chimed, and Weiss saw her sister's avatar. Weiss was very nearly late, and Winter was sending her a polite hint.

"I'm sorry," Weiss whispered. "My father… he's come to take me back."

"So… you're going too," Yang mused.

"I-" Weiss tried to say, but came up with nothing. The reasons were irrelevant. She was leaving Yang alone, wounded, with no one to comfort her. Not by choice. Because it had to be done.

Weiss stood up, briefly grasping Yang's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said again, before stepping out, beginning her grim march towards her fate.

* * *

She passed the other refugees in a trance, arriving at the Atlas barracks with no discernible time lapse. Winter scolded her for cutting it so close, but Weiss was miles away. She was between two places: at Yang's bedside, hearing her disappointment and anger, or in Blake's embrace, feeling her friend's parting grasp of affection. Trapped in loss. Lost in two moments.

When her father arrived, she barely even looked at him. He dismissed Winter quickly, with only cold, polite formality, not even gratitude. He had no more use for her now that he had his heiress. For Weiss he showed a bit more affection and interest, but she wasn't listening. She replied to his questions with short and neutral answers, and affirmations to his requests. She hadn't heard a word he'd said. She'd just known the result was inevitable, and had no more energy to expend on pointless rebellion.

She boarded his plane with him as he'd commanded, looking down at the ruins of Beacon as she headed north, heading back to her birthplace.

And leaving her home.

She looked down at the rusted crown she'd carried from the forest. Like its former bearer, she was now trapped, reliving the painful moments of her life. And like him, her efforts to change, to escape from fate had been for naught.

Weiss excused herself from her father to use the plane's washroom, and stared at the mirror, at the scar he'd given her on her way out.

She drove the crown into the glass and fragmented the image, breaking the glass shards until there was nothing left.


	8. Angel's Mercy

**Chapter Eight: Angel's Mercy**

 _A Forgotten Country, Eighty Years Ago_

Erzengel found it easier to go out at night, even if it meant replacing extreme heat for fierce cold. Looking out over her new lodgings and the many dwellings outside the palace, she felt the dark and cold suited her better: it reminded her of home.

"Sleepwalking, my lady?" her betrothed inquired, stepping to her side at the balcony railing, looking out over the kingdom with her.

"It's a habit I'll have to break," Erzengel answered. "I'll need to spend a lot more time out in the day with them. I'll need to experience their lives."

"Is that what you want?" the crown prince asked her. "You could remain in the castle, and wave to them from this balcony at state functions. Even the commoners know you're here to further our alliance with Mantle, and not because you wish to be."

"It is my duty," Erzengel answered firmly.

"Yes," the crown prince agreed. "And in time, duty will be my burden as well. I'll be king, and be tasked with stewarding over them."

"And is that what your duty will be?" Erzengel inquired. "Smiling and waving from this balcony? Lording over them from behind your high wall?"

The crown prince smiled. "I know they face hardships I do not. I remind myself of it, every time I look at the bounty on my table or feel the softness of my sheets. I hear of it every time I see my father, and his commanders report the dead bannermen sent to Vacuo. I'm not such a fool to think a smile and a wave is enough to rule them."

Erzengel saw a flicker of light out in the desert. Her infiltration cell was setting up shop outside the kingdom's borders, under the auspice of being a visiting delegation. They'd arrive at dawn and feign friendship, while siege engines were set up at their backs.

By the following night, it would be done… and her betrothed would carry an entirely different burden.

"You don't have to, though," Erzengel told him. "You're rich, you have noble blood. You could move your people from here, and use your resources to found an entirely new place to rule. You don't have to live in a harsh desert and keep sending your soldiers to die for Vacuo's war."

"I could," the crown prince mused. "But the people would never accept it. They've paid tribute to Vacuo for so long, they wear it as a point of pride. They see their duty as an honor."

"And do you?" Erzengel asked him. "Would you do your duty, when you didn't have to?"

The crown prince was silent for several moments. "When I was young, there was a long drought. No rains for nearly a year, barely crops enough to feed our own kingdom, much less send in our monthly patronage to Vacuo… and of course, the despair the people felt drew the shadow beasts to our borders, so every night our soldiers repelled one raid or another.

"My father and I feasted each night, with more than enough rations, with food to feed a family, while our subjects starved, while they lost children to fever and dehydration," the crown prince continued. "I was a boy, and tried to give one of my retainers the leftovers from my table, to ease his anguish. He refused. He told me I had to remain strong and whole, because I was his liege, and if I failed, so would my subjects. He was proud to sacrifice for his prince, for his kingdom, for his country. He would, if necessary, die for me, but I could not return the courtesy.

"Many of our soldiers died in battle with the beasts, and many of our farmers retreated from their land when no rain fell," the crown prince went on. "Two of my retainers died from fever. Another lost his daughter. None of them were without one loss or another. And I watched them from a high balcony with a full stomach and a cool head… watched my friends –not my underlings, not my subjects- the closest I had to brothers suffer below me. _That_ was what was required of me. To stay strong and wait for rain."

"And the drought ended?" Erzengel asked.

"It did," the crown prince nodded. "And the people grew their crops and lost no more loved ones. The shadow beasts returned to their dens out past the dunes, and I smiled and waved from the balcony, pretending I was unhurt… well, no, not pretending. I had not suffered like they had. My burden had been to hope, to wait and watch. To worry about those down below my palace, to feel the pain of people I barely knew… after the rain fell, I knew what they'd given up. What they'd willingly sacrificed for me, for my family… for their kingdom. It was their duty to sacrifice, and they did. It was mine to watch their suffering… and I did."

Erzengel nodded. "And you'll always do your duty now?"

"I can do nothing else," the crown prince confirmed. "When men die for you, when they risk their future for your sake… you can do no less if you expect to wear a crown and sit a throne. You have to be strong and whole, so the people can still have hope."

Erzengel nodded, looking out past the kingdom's borders, to her war party, marking their positions. Tomorrow, the boy prince would be king… and there would be no one to suffer but him. No one to hope. He would carry an entirely different burden.

"We must do our duty," Erzengel agreed, speaking quietly.

The crown prince put his hand on her shoulder. "Hopefully you can find some joy here as well, snow angel."

The words hurt. It had been an annoying sort of title, when he'd first given it to her. Now it was a bitter reminder that his love was real, and hers' was feigned.

She could not look him in the eye. She reached up to grasp his hand instead. "I will find happiness. I know I will."

* * *

 _Atlas, Two Weeks after the Battle of Beacon_

Weiss was still adjusting to being in her old room. It had been hers' for sixteen years; a refuge from her father and his grip. Now it was just another cell in his jail, and she his surrendered captive.

Most of her belongings had been lost during the Battle of Beacon, so her room was sparsely furnished. But she had brought along the Ruin King's crown, and after waiting a few weeks to mask her intentions from her father's eyes, she accessed the Schnee Dust Company's records, and had ancient, hand-written historical records sent her way, allegedly to prepare herself for her future role in the company, and not to satisfy her curiosity.

Erzengel Schnee had been her great grandmother, mother to the man who founded the Schnee Dust Company. Though she was only briefly mentioned in logs and ledgers, it gradually became clear what role she'd played.

After the Great War, Mantle had awarded her prestigious ranks for her military service. She'd married, but kept her name and title as head of her house. She'd used the advances in technology to improve transit and communication systems, and made better defensive structures for dealing with the Grimm, largely thanks to an increased supply of Gravity Dust to better power and direct vehicles and signals.

When Mantle was overthrown and replaced by Atlas, she kept her place in high society, given all she had done to improve the kingdom and the lives of the common people. She helped her son during his founding of the company, and advised him until the end of her life, a paragon of society, a war hero, an ideal noble.

What had she done that was so horrible that a madman devoted eighty years to seeking vengeance on her? Of that, there was no record. Her military service records hadn't even included any reports of her being wounded in battle, or how she'd received her scar the Ruin King had obsessed over.

And why had he loved her? How had he known her?

She glanced at the rusted crown sitting on her nightstand. It was a reminder of a terrible night… and a lot of unanswered questions.

* * *

 _Mantle, Eighty Years Ago_

Erzengel dropped to kneel before her king. "It is done," she said simply.

"Excellent," the king clapped his hands together. "Any losses?"

"The expected number," Erzengel replied. "It will fit the story we tell; that members of our delegation were killed by the Grimm along with the native population."

"And have their numbers significantly increased since you began your… process?" the king inquired.

Erzengel didn't let his tone deter her. "Yes, of course. The crown prince lived, and the outflow of negative energy drew their attention. They've already begun to settle the ruins."

"I see," the king mused, stroking his chin, before looking back at Erzengel. "Stand up, my lady, please. You've done well today."

"Have I?" Erzengel asked him.

"Of course!" the king beamed. "The Grimm have refocused their attention to the desert and have a new focal point, Vacuo lost an enormous number of bannermen, and the Dust you've brought back with you will drastically improve our weapons. Your service has been exemplary."

Erzengel did not return his praise. "I destroyed him. That's all I've done."

"Please," the king groaned. "Were you so morose when you tested your Semblance on the others? You removed the Grimm from our borders and sent them to the continent with each of the monsters you made for us."

"You don't _make_ monsters," Erzengel corrected him. "Pouring the soulless husks into their bodies changes them, but none of them sought it. Monsters are not made, they are _chosen_."

"Oh, spare me your pontification," the king requested.

"No, I need to say this," Erzengel countered. "I want it reflected to you, clearly, because I know you won't tell anyone else the truth of this. Those people we experimented on, those changes I inflicted on them… we weren't making monsters. We willingly became them."

"And so what?" the king snapped. "You did what was best for your kingdom. Did you expect pledging your service to me wouldn't come with hard choices?"

Erzengel turned her back to him, without being given his leave. "I wish you good fortune. The Grimm won't ever stop attacking us if we keep killing and betraying each other."

"Oh, but prosperity is ahead, my lady," the king boasted. "Vacuo will sue for peace and we will be in quite an advantageous position when they do. The Grimm will remain fixated on the continent and the other three kingdoms will be besieged by the focal points you've made. You may think yourself a monster, but you have ensured that Mantle will know peace."

"Yes," Erzengel confirmed. "That was my duty."

She stepped out from his chambers and out to look over the kingdom, to see the common people below her, who would be spared the bloody fighting and suffer fewer and fewer battles with the Grimm.

Because of her. The war hero.

War did not make heroes. And betrayal, no matter its purpose or its necessity, poisoned the soul.

The crown prince –her former betrothed- would wander between life and death, the Grimm integrating themselves into his body and sustaining himself, until they consumed him, as the Grimm always did. So long as he sustained his powerful emotions, he would wander, and the negative energy would draw the Grimm to him, and the cycle would perpetuate.

If anyone encountered him, and saw what he was, they'd call him a monster.

The real monster was the noble lady people were thanking for sparing them pain.

And the others… the experiments that came before the crown prince had been successful. Perhaps they'd draw the Grimm away and keep her kingdom safe. They'd wander as he had, possibly for many more years.

All it cost her was her soul. And theirs'.

For her kingdom. Because that was her duty.

 _I promise._

Erzengel descended from the palace balcony to mingle with the people, to remind herself of the lives she'd given herself up for, and hoped one day she wouldn't have to see his screaming face or his bloodied sword…

To escape that moment and move on. That was all she could hope for now.

Even monsters could eventually find happiness. They had in the fairy tales, when the right circumstances presented themselves.

For now, there was the Dust brought back. The king wanted to make weapons. She thought perhaps the Dust might have other applications, to make people's lives better without actively making others' lives worse.

Little by little, she'd buy her soul back… and then, maybe she wouldn't have to keep reliving the moment. She could grow beyond it, turn it into something meaningful.

But it would not leave her. Ghosts tended to linger for good reasons. And hers' would be the burden she'd carry. No one else would remember the names of the people she'd hurt. No one else would realize the sacrifices they'd made- that she'd forced them to make.

She would do good with her life, but she would not leave those moments. Even if she eventually could move beyond them. They were part of her now.

And in the end… in the end, that would have to be enough.


End file.
